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Bevin Dunn
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Exploring the RPC Debugger panel
- Watermarking images with ASP.NET and the RPC server
- Examining the client-side code
- Examining the server-side code
Discovering the Fireworks RPC server – Part 2: Debugging techniques and web applications
Part 1 of this series, XML and Socket Communication, introduced remote procedure calls and the RPC server, described the basic XML node structure needed for server communication, and gave a code example that manually tested a Flash-to-Fireworks RPC server socket connection.
The first section of Part 2 introduces a new Fireworks extension that I created for this article, called the RPC Debugger. This panel, included in the sample files with this article, helps you test individual XML calls to the RPC server before you send them from another application.
The second section includes a sample ASP.NET web application that accesses the Fireworks RPC server. This application has a web interface for users to upload an image to a server and choose a watermark for the image. The Fireworks RPC server is then sent instructions to add the chosen watermark to the uploaded image and export the new composite as a GIF.
Requirements
To complete all the sample projects, the following software and files are needed or highly recommended:
Fireworks 8
Flash Professional 8
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005
Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition (free)
Fireworks 8 – Extending Fireworks PDF
Sample files:
Prerequisite knowledge
Besides general Fireworks familiarity, it is helpful to have basic knowledge of JavaScript for writing Fireworks commands and beginner-level knowledge of Flash ActionScript 2.0. Visual Basic.NET is used for the ASP.NET watermarking example. If you have not tried ASP.NET programming, you can get free Express Editions of Microsoft .NET software. For web development, you need Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition.
About the author
Bevin Dunn taught Adobe, Microsoft, and other computer programs for two years and is currently a multimedia developer focusing on graphics support through Fireworks extensions and .NET applications. She is also a graphics/web designer and serves on the board of directors and as the technology coordinator for the Kondwa Children's Foundation, a nonprofit group that supports projects to raise the standard of living and wellbeing of children suffering from the effects of extreme poverty and HIV/AIDS in Zambia.
